Juan Soto has done a very Juan Soto thing through two Subway Series games, reaching base safely in half of his plate appearances.
That other Juan Soto thing — the one that has a lot to do with why he is the highest-paid player in history — where he cuts through pressure and rises to the occasion has been absent so far through a night and a day back at Yankee Stadium.
If he was not booed every time he was announced, batted or even caught a fly ball, you might not even have noticed him. But, of course, you are noticing him. Every move. Every gesture. Every nod or non-nod toward the home dugout that used to be his home dugout. This three-game set in The Bronx is the first referendum on Soto since he shunned the Yankees’ $760 million bid to sign with the Mets for $765 million.
It has left Yankee fans just a bit perturbed, and they certainly are not using this series to offer thanks for the 2024 memories.
